


The (Modern) Adventures of Les Amis de l'ABC

by whenyouheldtheknife



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, Gen, Gender Identity, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Genderfluid Character, Genderqueer, Genderqueer Character, M/M, Multi, Vignette, more tags to be added as needed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-30
Updated: 2014-07-31
Packaged: 2018-02-11 00:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2046657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whenyouheldtheknife/pseuds/whenyouheldtheknife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Take Les Amis and stick them in a modern setting where, hopefully, everyone can stay alive this time. Contains queer characters and people of color characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Grantaire: Nighttime Wanderings

**Author's Note:**

> 1) i can't believe i wrote a thing??  
> 2) grantaire is agender and uses xe/xyrs/xemself pronouns  
> 3) please leave me a review i would love you forever <333

There was a peace to the nighttime that Grantaire couldn’t help but love. The way that the city seemed half-asleep around xem, the feeling of the slight breeze brushing along xyr bare arms: it was enough to make Grantaire want to never stop walking. 

Currently, there wasn’t an aim to xyr walk; it was nearing midnight and Grantaire had desperately needed to get out of xyr apartment. There was a painting that xe should really be working on instead, but Grantaire had hit a block: the colors weren’t looking right, the paintbrush felt wrong in xyr hands, and xe had also accidentally taken a huge gulp of xyr paint water instead of the coffee xe had brewed up just minutes ago. 

All in all, it hadn’t been one of Grantaire’s more successful nights. 

Grantaire was passing by a small, hole-in-the-wall cafe that xe had been meaning to go to one of these days when xe heard it: a voice. And not just any voice, mind you, but a voice that wove golden trails around Grantaire, stopping xem in xyr tracks. This voice was something that, had Grantaire been able to see it, xe would have had to draw it right then and there. 

Trying to focus on what this person was actually saying, Grantaire heard, “...and that’s why we need to start this movement _now,_ Combeferre, before it gets too late!” 

Grantaire paused, weighing xyr options: xe could continue walking around the city and eventually either get lost or make xyr way back to xyr apartment, or xe could go in and see what else this man with the golden voice had to say. 

Xe only paused for a moment more before muttering, “Fuck it, I don’t have anything better to do.” 

Grantaire slowly sidled xyr way inside the cafe, noticing as xe entered that it was set up differently than xe remembered seeing earlier in the day: there were tables and chairs strewn around the room now, all facing the front, where a young man wearing a red dress shirt and loose black tie who looked to be about Grantaire’s age stood. And the sight of this man paused Grantaire in xyr movements yet again. 

He was gorgeous. Immediately, Grantaire’s mind scanned through famous Greek gods and through the muses of the various artists xe had studied: Michelangelo's David came to mind first, but Grantaire brushed that aside; it wasn’t beautiful enough. Ticking through a few more, Grantaire watched as this man brushed a long, curly lock of blond hair behind his ear and settled on Apollo. He had to be a direct descendant of that god; he was so beautiful and he seemed to command the room with his presence alone. 

Grantaire shook xemself from xyr private reverie and glanced around the room, looking for an empty chair, and finding one at a table that was empty save for one other occupant: another young man, probably also a student, who had their thick black hair braided down their back with flowers strewn amongst it. Walking over as the man up front began speaking again, xe slid into the seat next to this other person, setting xyr phone down on the table. 

Without even starting or looking away from the front of the man, the person leaned over and murmured, “I wondered when you were going to sit down. You seem nice, what’s your name? I’m Jean Prouvaire, but my friends call me Jehan.” 

“How did you even know I was back there?” Grantaire asked, surprised at how open this person seemed to be. 

They shrugged, looking down at the table and then taking a peek over at Grantaire: their eyes were russet brown and piercing as they examined Grantaire. Seeming satisfied, they turned their head to look at xem. “I had a feeling someone new was going to stop by tonight,” they explained, still in an undertone. “And here you are!” They smiled brightly and Grantaire was momentarily stunned; was everyone here beautiful or something? 

“Well, I’m Grantaire,” xe answered, a little bemused at this whole exchange. “Um, it’s nice to meet you, Prouvaire." 

“Jehan,” they corrected with a smile. 

“Yeah, okay.” Grantaire paused, trying to get used to this. Xe hadn’t bargained for talking to anyone; xe had just wanted to see what all this noise and fuss was about. And now here xe was, sitting in the back of what seemed to be a rally lecture of sorts, making friends when xe hadn’t expected to. “Could you, uh,” Grantaire cleared xyr throat quietly and tried to ignore the few heads that turned around and looked at xem, “could you tell me who that man is up front, there?” xe finished, trying to stay quiet. 

Jehan looked back at the front of the room and then back to Grantaire. And then they grinned widely, a mischievous grin that had Grantaire returning a half-smile. “That’s Enjolras, the fearless leader,” they answered. “Do you know him?" 

Grantaire shook xyr head. “Not at all. I heard his voice outside and followed it in.” Xe paused, hearing Enjolras mention the school that xe was currently attending, and furrowed xyr brows. “Does everyone here go to Rue University?” 

“I think most of us do. Here, let me point everyone out to you -- “ but at that point, Jehan was interrupted by Enjolras looking over their way and asking with a perfectly arched brow, “Is everything all right, Prouvaire?” 

Brightening immensely, Jehan smiled hugely back at Enjolras, who looked like he was fighting not to return that same smile. “Everything’s great! I’m just making a new friend! This is Grantaire; he was wandering outside and then came in.” 

“Actually, it’s, uh, it’s xe,” Grantaire added quietly. 

“Oh no, I’m sorry! Guys, I messed up, Grantaire uses xe pronouns.” Jehan turned back to Grantaire with that same big smile on their face, giving xem a thumbs-up. Grantaire wanted to sink into his seat. 

Enjolras fixed his eyes on Grantaire and xyr breath paused in xyr lungs. There was a long, stifling, awkward moment before Enjolras lowered his eyes and said, “It’s nice to see that someone new has wandered in.” He then continued where he had left off with his speech as if nothing had happened at all. 

“See, that wasn’t too bad, was it?” Jehan asked, making sure to keep their voice low. “I know that Enj can get a little intense sometimes -- really, it’s no good for him to be so angry and fierce at all hours -- but he’s honestly a nice person.” 

Grantaire was trying to get xyr heart pumping again. “He doesn’t think it’s nice that I wandered in,” xe finally said, trying to get the image of Enjolras’s icicle-esque eyes of out xyr head. “He just said that to be polite.” 

Jehan furrowed their brow. “That’s not true at all,” they began to protest, but Grantaire was already waving a hand in dismissal. 

“I know disappointment when I see it, it happens all the time,” xe said, keeping xyr eyes firmly glued to the table. Xe was already writing Enjolras off as some big, prissy, rude prick who thought that a lot of people were beneath him. There wasn’t a need for Grantaire to continue sitting here, and as xe realized that, xe got up. It wasn’t very quiet, but Enjolras didn’t stop speaking, didn’t look up, and that was when Grantaire’s stomach felt like it dropped right out of xem. “Sorry,” xe said gruffly to Jehan, who looked extremely confused, and xe left as quickly as possible. 

Walking briskly away from the cafe, Grantaire kept xyr head down low and xyr eyebrows knitted together. It was pointless to try and meet new people, really, especially when you couldn’t ever tell who was worth talking to and who was a complete asshole: examples being Jehan and Enjolras, respectively. 

It was only when Grantaire had walked xemself back to xyr apartment and was inside, staring at a blank canvas, that xe realized that xe had left xyr phone on the table next to Jehan. 


	2. Jehan: Mischief Managed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Jehan, oh thank God you picked up my phone,” Grantaire answered, relief flooding through xyr voice on the phone.
> 
> “Of course I did! Who else would pick it up?”
> 
> “I don’t know and I don’t really care. Listen, could you drop this by my apartment at some point tonight? I really need it back, I have a commission due soon.” Grantaire sounded like xe needed some time getting a massage, Jehan mused, thinking that they could probably arrange that for xem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) jehan is genderfluid and uses they/them pronouns  
> 2) also native american  
> 3) they're a huge mischief-maker do not even try to argue with me on this  
> 4) please leave me kudos or a review or let me know what you think somehow! c:  
> 5) come say hi on [tumblr!](http://enjolrasactual.tumblr.com)

The meeting had come to an end not too long after Grantaire had left, and Jehan was left staring with a frown where their new friend had been, still sitting in their own chair. Why had the other person left so suddenly? Enjolras couldn’t be that terrifying to deal with, could he? Jehan had never experienced -- okay, that was going to be a lie. Jehan huffed at themself, blowing their black bangs to the side of their face, and stood up. 

That was when the phone on the table started ringing. Jehan hadn’t noticed it before, but now they did, and they lit up, assuming it was Grantaire’s. Snatching it up quickly, they picked up the phone and answered, “Hello??” 

“Jehan, oh thank God _you_ picked up my phone,” Grantaire answered, relief flooding through xyr voice on the phone. 

“Of course I did! Who else would pick it up?” 

“I don’t know and I don’t really care. Listen, could you drop this by my apartment at some point tonight? I really need it back, I have a commission due soon.” Grantaire sounded like xe needed some time getting a massage, Jehan mused, thinking that they could probably arrange that for xem. 

“What? Oh, of course, Grantaire!” Jehan caught the eye of Courfeyrac, one of Enjolras’s closest friends, from across the room, and mouthed _‘the new guy’_ at him. Courfeyrac nodded, then pointed to Enjolras and mouthed back _‘make him do it’._ Jehan grinned a terrible, shit-eating grin as he gave Courfeyrac a thumbs-up and took down Grantaire’s address. “Yep, I’ll be over with that probably in the next hour. Of course, no problem, you’re welcome! See you soon.” Jehan hung up the phone and set their sights on Enjolras. The poor bastard didn’t know what was coming. 

Holding Grantaire’s phone in their hand, Jehan strode across the room and stood next to Courfeyrac, waiting until Enjolras was done speaking with Combeferre, another of Enjolras’s closer friends, before opening their mouth and asking, “So, Enjolras, what are you doing after this?” 

Enjolras glanced over at Jehan, his brow furrowed. “I’m heading back home to work on the papers I have due at the end of this week, as well as the opening argument that I need to write for Dr. Vanderzyn. Why?” 

Exchanging a glance with Courfeyrac, Jehan was about to open their mouth when they were interrupted by Combeferre exclaiming, “I know that look! What are you planning?” 

Disappointed, Jehan pouted at Combeferre. “Grantaire left xyr phone here when xe left all in a huff, and I think that since it’s Enjolras’s fault that my new friend left, that he should go return the phone.” Looking back at Enjolras, Jehan grinned and held the phone out in their open palm. “Xe thinks you’re cute, I’m sure xe will be _super_ happy to see you!” 

Enjolras reddened considerably and coughed, looking down. “That doesn’t seem right, Prouvaire, particularly if it’s my “fault”, as you put it, that xe left.” 

Courfeyrac rolled his eyes and chimed in with, “You need the break anyway!” 

Clearing his throat, Enjolras was silent for a long moment as his brow wrinkled itself even deeper. Jehan was sure that their friend’s face was going to get stuck that way if he kept making that same face all the time. 

Finally, Enjolras looked Jehan in the eye and said, “All right, I’ll go. What’s the address?” 

\----

Jehan received two calls in the early morning, and they had been asleep during both of them. 

After walking themself back to their studio apartment half a mile from the cafe, they had greeted their cat, Whitman. Whitman was a grey-and-white cat that liked to curl up on Jehan’s stomach or back while they slept, and he preferred food rather than the company of other people, but he adored Jehan unconditionally. 

“Hi there, boy,” Jehan murmured, half-asleep on their feet as they bent down to scratch behind Whitman’s ears. Whitman purred and rubbed his face against Jehan’s knuckles, closing his eyes as if in agreement with his owner: they both needed to get some sleep. “C’mere,” they said, picking Whitman up and cradling him close to their chest. They shut and locked the front door behind them, walking through the living space and into their bedroom. Whitman leapt out of Jehan’s arms and immediately curled up on Jehan’s spare pillow, looking at his owner expectantly. 

Jehan pulled their phone out of their pocket and looked at it. Seeing no new messages at the time, they set it down on the nightstand and fell asleep half-under the blanket, still wearing their street clothes. It wouldn’t be until they woke up the next day that they would be able to giggle at the messages that their friends had left for them. 

\----

“Jehan, I can’t believe you sent _him_ over! Why would you do that? Why would you put his number in my phone?” A pause. “Who the hell are Combeferre and Courfeyrac and everyone else you’ve gone and put in my phone? And Jehan, I hope you know that that was the single most _awkward_ thing I have ever had the misfortune to experience, and trust me, I’ve usually caused a lot of my _own_ awkward moments.” A slightly longer pause, then: “And for the record, I don’t think that he’s cute.” 

\----

“Prouvaire. You didn’t tell me that this Grantaire character disliked me so much. I’m fairly certain that you lied to me outright to shirk this responsibility. We are going to have to talk tomorrow, you know.” There was a pause in which Jehan could hear their friend inhale sharply. “I can already hear your thoughts on the matter, so stop that at once. I don’t have time to forge new relations; I’m busy enough as it is. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 


End file.
